Saturday, December 19, 2015

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Luke, Chapter 1, verse 13:
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John.

To a Pious Jew and especially a Levi priest the knowledge that God is so holy we dare not even say His name. Notice frequently in the bible the angels will use the term, “Do not be afraid”, and is because at times we knowing our sinfulness may not feel worthy. Feeling unworthy is a tool the evil one often uses to discourage us from doing good works.

I have felt this fear of being unworthy often. In the mid-seventies while still a youth in my 20’s I was chosen to be a lay Eucharistic minister while working at the South Pole in Antarctica by the priest that had come 900 miles to bring our Lord to us catholic boys working I didn’t feel worthy; come on this is Richard you know; but the Priest convinced me that it was the only way and I did want to bring “Our Lord” to my fellow brothers in Christ.

We must remember that the evil one will sow fear in our hearts trying to convince us we are unworthy and if we listen we become like the man who out of fear buried his talent in the ground.

Come to deliver us, and tarry not.

O Root of Jesse, who stands for an ensign of the people, before whom kings shall keep silence and unto whom the Gentiles shall make supplication: Come to deliver us, and tarry not. 


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